The Flyers traded with the St. Louis Blues to take the No. 27 pick and selected center Morgan Frost. Brayden Schenn went to the Blues and the Flyers got Frost, a conditional 2018 first-round pick and Jori Lehtera.
Dave Isaac/Courier-Post

Monday began the league’s courting period for unrestricted free agents so Weal was free to speak with teams like his hometown Canucks and spoke with the expansion Vegas Golden Knights about a potential deal last week. He couldn’t have signed deals with any of those teams until noon Saturday when free agency begins.

The best fit, apparently, was in Philadelphia.

“It’s awesome. They gave me a great chance last year to play with some great players,” Weal said. “I think this is the group that’s headed in the right direction. We’ve got a lot of talent and skill, especially with some of the additions we’ve made. I’m just really excited to get back and start the year the way we finished it.”

In his final seven games of the season Weal had seven points, including four goals.

He will likely have a big role going forward despite having only 37 games of NHL experience between the Flyers and Los Angeles Kings.

“Jordan was a real good player for us. He played an important role for our hockey team,” coach Dave Hakstol said over the weekend at the draft in Chicago. “That part of the business is yet to take place. Certainly in my mind Jordan Weal is an important part of where we’d like to go.”

Late last season Weal was particularly impressive with four goals and seven points in the final seven games. In all he had eight goals and 12 points in 23 games. He didn’t get much of a chance in the prior season, when the Flyers acquired him from the Kings, because he hadn’t played in a while and the Flyers were in a race for a playoff spot so Hakstol thought his game wasn’t sharp enough to play regularly.

With his hot finish, Weal found himself in a situation where he was attractive to other teams. His agent had agreed on a length of a contract with Flyers general manager Ron Hextall, but still had to figure out a salary. That process drew out for a while.

“Our stance on Jordan hasn’t changed,” Hextall said at the draft. “We’d like to sign him. Simple as that.”

It didn’t seem so simple with how long it took, but eventually Weal felt the best fit was to stay. He’s a natural center who will have to play the wing for the Flyers, but their need for a top-six scoring forward opens a door for him.

“We’re trying to make the playoffs and I think we have the group to do that,” Weal said. “That’s what it’s gonna be all about is winning games right from the start and carry that through for the rest of the season.”